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There are four fighters who could potentially get a light heavyweight title shot after UFC on Fox 4 is over, but everyone seems to be aiming directly at one person as the most likely candidate.
The criteria set forth by UFC president Dana White is whoever is most impressive during the Saturday night fight card will get the next crack at the 205-pound champion.
Most assume it’s Mauricio “Shogun” Rua who has the easiest path to the title shot, and so the questions are already coming at him rapid fire as if he’s already earned it.
But when you hear the tone in his voice and the direction in which he answers, he’s clearly not happy that everyone seems to be looking past his opponent, Brandon Vera.

According to UFC president Dana White, former dual-division champion B.J. Penn will one day be in the UFC Hall of Fame.
"I love B.J.," White on Thursday said. "B.J. has been a huge star for us for a long time. I think B.J. could be up in there in the talks of 'Who is the greatest of all-time.'"
But that doesn't mean he thinks "The Prodigy" has fully delivered on his potential as a mixed martial artist. The two share a long, contentious past about the topic.
"If you look at B.J. Penn's career, count how many times he was in phenomenal shape," White added.
White later explained the two had a fiery friendship that resembled family members rather than business associates.
Some of that fire was related to whether Penn would fight at 155 pounds or 170.
But the executive added that given their relationship, his observation probably won't be received warmly.
"I've said it for years about B.J. B.J. is [expletive] tough as nails, has an unbelievable chin – a rock head," White said. "If you look at some of the fights he's had where he's on the bottom and he's getting smashed, the guy doesn't cut. His skin, I don't know what his skin is made out of. He doesn't cut. He's just this kid that was born and built to fight, and he's crazy like that. He'll come in and fight.
"The big beef with me and him during the Georges St-Pierre 'Primetime.' Remember? When I said, 'The guy's not doing anything. He's blowing off his training and this and that.' He got all upset about it, and he'll be all upset about this now, too."

It’s been nearly a year since Matt Hughes lest set foot in the Octagon, and if it’s up to UFC president Dana White, the time that it has been will only get longer and longer.
In short, he wants the former UFC welterweight champion to retire. Period.
It is something Hughes has contemplated, but has yet to pull the trigger on. White, however, has his own mind made up.
“Hughes is one of these guys that I absolutely positively want Matt Hughes to retire. I mean, what else is there to accomplish. The guy has done everything,” said White after Thursday’s UFC on Fox 4 press conference.
“There’s nothing left to prove, but it’s so hard for these guys to say, ‘I’m retired.’ It was the same thing with Chuck (Liddell); going through it with Matt.”
Perhaps more surprising than saying he wanted Hughes to retire, however, was White’s steadfast belief that Forrest Griffin should hang up the gloves as well.
“I would like Forrest to retire. Nothing left for Forrest to prove either,” White declared.
“He won The Ultimate Fighter; had an amazing career. He won the title when people thought he couldn’t. He became a huge star. He made (expletive) of money. He’s got a beautiful wife; he’s got a baby.
“If you don’t want to be a world champion, why? What’s the point? I get it. It’s hard to walk away from walking into the arena with big crowds and all the (expletive).
“There comes a point man. You’ve had an amazing career; you’ve done great things. There’s nothing left to prove.”

Francisco "Massaranduba" Trinaldo (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will fight fellow Brazilian lightweight Gleison Tibau (25-8 MMA, 10-6 UFC) at UFC 153.
Trinaldo announced the fight via Facebook. However, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) could not immediately confirm the matchup, and UFC officials haven't made a formal announcement.
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This fight is awesome two huge strong lightweights going at it.
It also makes 12 fights so looks like this stellar card is complete, I wonder why the Mutante/Sarafian fight never came to fruition.

A featherweight contest between Pablo Garza and Mark Hominick is official for UFC 154 this November in Canada.
UFC officials announced the news today.
The event takes place on November 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and is expected to feature a welterweight title unification bout between champion Georges St. Pierre and interim champion Carlos Condit.

The fifth installment of the UFC's fight series on FX has another bout. Aaron Simpson will continue his welterweight campaign as he takes on veteran Mike Pierce as part of the UFC on FX 5 fight card. That event is set to be held October 5th at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota and will be headlined by a heavyweight clash between Travis Browne and Antonio Silva.
The match-up was confirmed by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani.

Tim Means (18-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will look to build on a quick knockout win when he meets UFC newcomer Abel Trujillo (9-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in September.
Representatives from Authentic Sports Management recently announced Trujillo's signing with the UFC, and late Wednesday, UFC officials announced Means as his first opponent.
The lightweights will face off on Sept. 1 at UFC 151, which takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas with a main card airing on pay-per-view and prelims expected for FX and Facebook.

The head trainer of Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Chael Sonnen was jailed Wednesday for allegedly violating the terms of his supervised release from prison on a fraud conviction.
David Shelofsky, a 44-year-old West Linn resident, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul J. Papak, who ordered him to held in the Multnomah County Jail until he appears next week to contest his detention.
It's unclear what Shelofsky might have done, if anything, to violate the terms of his post-prison supervision.
Shelofsky, a former California police officer, had served as a fraud investigator for U.S. Bank in Portland before getting caught embezzling $1.5 million of the money he had recovered for the bank. He was sentenced in March 2008 to a little more than three years in prison. He got out in August 2010.

We're still far away from finding out UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's next opponent.
But on Wednesday, Silva's manager, Ed Soares, emphatically stated he doesn't think a bout with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is the right fight to make.
Speaking with reporters at the UFC on FOX 4 open workouts at the JW Marriott hotel in downtown Los Angeles, Soares ridiculed the notion of making a champion vs. champion superfight.
"I don't think it's a good fight," Soares said. "I think No. 1, Jon Jones, said he doesn't want the fight, and Anderson said he doesn't want the fight. What is it going to do for Jones if he goes go down in weight to fight Anderson? If he loses it's going to ruin him. If Anderson Silva moves up in weight and fights Jon Jones, here's a lighter guy who's going to take my title? C'mon dude.

Fox released a press statement on Wednesday about the Ref Cam, which it will introduce at Saturday’s UFC on Fox 4: Shogun vs. Vera event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The Ref Cam will bring fans “to a place they’ve never been – inside the Octagon, within inches of the fighters battling in the cage.”

Heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga (13-6 MMA, 8-5 UFC) and Geronimo Dos Santos (31-14 MMA, 0-0 UFC) are likely headed to UFC 153.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with sources close to the event that verbal agreements are in place for the bout. Brazilian website Tatame first reported the pairing.
UFC 153 takes place Oct. 13 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The event's main card, including a featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and top contender Erik Koch, airs live on pay-per-view while preliminary-card fights air on FX.

In his first bout in more than a year due to injuries, former light heavyweight Luiz Cane (12-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) will fight on home soil when he meets middleweight Chris Camozzi (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at UFC 153.
UFC officials today announced the fight via Twitter.
UFC 153 takes place Oct. 13 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Featherweight champion Jose Aldo meets challenger Erik Koch in the evening's pay-per-view main event.

Wagner Prado's road to the UFC included a chance opportunity and a pimped-out 1975 Ford Maverick.
A promising MMA fighter who was light on funds, Prado purchased the beat-up clunker after a pair of early-career victories, but he didn't have the funds to fix it up.
So his mom wrote a letter to Luciano Huck – the host of a Brazilian variety show that includes a segment similar to MTV's "Pimp My Ride." Not only did Prado (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) eventually get a sweet ride, he was introduced to the training partners and MMA royalty who would help him get to the UFC.

Live UFC fights will remain on ESPN in the U.K. and Ireland.
Officials today announced an extension to its existing deal that will keep live UFC fights – including those that air on pay-per-view and cable TV in the U.S. – on the premium cable channel through August 2013.
Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"UFC will continue to be aired on ESPN in the U.K., giving the channel rights to all main live UFC events until August 2013," the company announced via Twitter...

UFC 148 can now officially be called the largest live gate in promotional history in the United States after figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday.
According to the figures, UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen 2 raked in a whopping $6,901,655 live gate, surpassing UFC 66 by nearly $1.6 million dollars.
That live gate totaled out at $5,397,300 for the card featuring the rematch between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz in Las Vegas.
UFC 148 now becomes the promotion’s biggest live gate ever in the United States with UFC 100 coming in at third place.
The commission numbers also state that the event sold 13,606 tickets with 64 tickets remaining unsold and a total of 1,498 tickets comped, which equates to the tickets being given away.

After a two-fight skid at middleweight, Kyle Noke will drop to welterweight for his next bout.
Noke on Tuesday announced on his Facebook page that he is dropping to 170 and will meet Charlie Brenneman at UFC 151 in Las Vegas. Additional sources close to the fight confirmed the booking to MMAjunkie.com.
UFC 151 takes place Sept. 1 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The event's main card airs live on pay-per-view while FX and Facebook host preliminary-card fights.

A new door opened, at least in theory, to Strikeforce fighters this past week when ex-UFC champ Frank Mir was exported to fight Daniel Cormier in October.
While Cormier's engagement is frequently billed as the last in the Strikeforce heavyweight division before being folded, the man he defeated to win the promotion's heavyweight grand prix title also is owed a fight.
That man, Josh Barnett, is one of the more marketable fighters in the division despite a recent loss to Cormier. As quick with submissions as he is in interviews, he would be a welcome addition to the UFC.

Francis Carmont impressed observers in his most recent fight. The performance has earned him a bout in his hometown.
Carmont and "Filthy" Tom Lawlor have agreed to meet in a middleweight matchup at UFC 154 on Nov. 17 at Montreal's Bell Centre, according to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani.